CLAY, Matthew, a Representative from Virginia; born in Halifax County, near Danville, Va., March
25, 1754; during the Revolutionary War entered the Ninth Virginia Regiment October 1, 1776,
transferred to the First Virginia Regiment in 1778 and to the Fifth Virginia Regiment in 1781, being
successively promoted to first lieutenant, captain, and quartermaster; mustered out 1783; member of
the State house of delegates 1790-1794; elected as a Republican to the Fifth and to the seven
succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1797-March 3, 1813); chairman, Committee on Militia (Tenth
Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1813 to the Thirteenth Congress; elected to the
Fourteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1815, until his death at Halifax Court House, Va., May
27, 1815; interment in the old family burying ground in Pittsylvania County, Va.